Natural composites of montmorillonite and revalorised cellulose for the sustainable fabrication of coloured bioplastic Jeovan A. Araujo 1 , Olivia A. Attallah 1,2 , Muhammad Azeem 1 , Chaitra Venkatesh 1 , Marija Mojicevic 1 and Margaret Brennan Fournet 1 1 Centre for Polymer Sustainability, PRISM Research Institute, Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest, University road, Athlone N37 HD68, Co. Westmeath, Ireland. 2 Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Heliopolis University, Cairo – Belbeis Desert Road, El Salam, Cairo 11777, Egypt. Renewable, biodegradable materials have been explored as alternatives to reduce the carbon footprint of traditional fossil fuel-based, non-renewable plastics. In this study, natural hybrid fillers of montmorillonite (MMT) clay mineral and biomass waste-recovered cellulose (CEL) were synthesised following a novel green and sustainable approach to incorporate curcumin (CUR), a model plant-based colorant, and improve its colour stability. FTIR, XRD and TGA results suggested good adhesion between the natural hybrid filler counterparts. The natural hybrid fillers were compounded with polylactic acid (PLA) as a model biodegradable polymer to fabricate sustainable coloured bioplastic via hot-melt extrusion. Macro and microstructure analysis of the coloured films confirmed that the natural hybrid fillers were well-dispersed into the polymeric matrix. No change was observed in the thermal properties of the synthesized composite films. Nevertheless, a slight decrease of the PLA film’s surface hydrophobicity was detected. DMA results demonstrated a moderate increase of elastic modulus of the coloured PLA films, from around 870 to 970 MPa, indicating an acceptable improvement in the films mechanical properties. Moreover, The CUR release study showed that the designed hybrid fillers significantly enhanced the encapsulation efficiency of CUR in the PLA films. This was correlated with the improved colour stability of the PLA composite films in comparison to PLA/CUR ones under accelerated weathering conditions of UV irradiation, high temperature and humidity. Over a period of 10 days, the PLA composite films showed a relatively consistent colour stability for the PLA+1.0%CUR-CEL-MMT film (∆E* = 1.1) in comparison to that of of PLA+0.5%CUR film (∆E* = 5.1). To summarise, the proposed fabrication process for biodegradable naturally composite films reported herein is presented as potential versatile strategy for the fabrication of various sustainable coloured packaging systems. In addition to the natural, economical and biodegradable aspects of the proposed hybrid fillers, the high industrial compatibility of the manufacturing process enables the commercial potential of these materials for different packaging applications. References 1. J. A. Araujo, M. Azeem, C. Venkatesh, M. Mojicevic, M. B. Fournet, and O. A. Attallah,ACS Sustain Chem Eng, 2023, (accepted).
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